Thomas W. Allen

Thomas W. Allen,

longtime resident of

Newport Beach, passed

away on Monday, April 5,

2010, after a sudden and

brief illness. He was born

in Pasadena on September

11, 1937 and grew up in

Santa Ana. He attended

Santa Clara University

Law School, and had a

long career serving as City

Attorney for several cities

in the Orange County area, including Stanton, Los Alamitos,

and Lake Forest. Tom retired from active practice several

years ago, but was still enjoying occasional work as a Hearing

Officer for local municipalities. Tom’s lifetime passion was the

sea. From the time he was a young boy who hitchhiked from

Santa Ana to fish off the piers in Newport Beach or catch a ride

on a half-day boat, Tom’s life was spent around the ocean. He

became a deckhand and earned his way up to serve as Captain

of several Newport-based fishing boats, taking passengers to the

best fishing spots off Catalina and San Clemente. Tom even

signed on to a Portuguese commercial tuna boat and spent

months off of South America, poling giant tuna over his head

from the boat’s rolling swim step. In later years, Tom continued

his sea adventures, taking dives from his own boat and voyaging

to Alaska and Mexico and everywhere in between. He was a

member of the Avalon Tuna Club, the Balboa Angling Club and

the Catalina Conservancy. Tom was a robust, big-hearted man

who never met a stranger and was never short of a smile. Tom’s

passing has left a big hole in his family and in the hearts of those

who knew and loved him. He is survived by his wife, Pamela

Whitesides Allen, his son, Matt Allen, his brother and sister-in-

law, Bob and Eleanor Allen, his sisters-in-law and brothers-in-

law, Paula and Pat Nielsen and Terry and Jim Hawley, and by

his nieces and nephews, Kathy and Jon Shamrell, Tim and Julie

Nielsen, Kristin and Steve Braucht, Kellie and Robert Smith,

Kathleen Hawley, Tom Allen, Matt Nielsen, and Luke Hawley.

A memorial service will take place at Pacific View Mortuary,

3500 Pacific View Drive, Corona del Mar, at 12 noon on Sunday,

April 11, 2010. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to

the American Red Cross or the Catalina Conservancy.